by Holly Jaymes
I rolled my eyes and made to walk away from him, but I felt him grab my hand and pull me back. I gasped as I fell with a thud on his chest.
He was peering into my eyes, and I stared back up at him. I felt a jolt of electricity run through my body and my heart was beating fast.
“There is nothing wrong with taking what you want, Margo,” he stated.
“And forget about the consequences or how that affects lives around you?” I hissed. Isaac released his grip on my arms. I stepped away from him.
“You’re taking life too seriously,” he said. I clenched my jaws and lifted my chin up in the air.
The smirk dropped from Isaac’s face.
“And what about him? He chose to be with you too." he retorted. I snapped away from him.
“I have to go, Isaac,” I called out to him.
I definitely have no plans of becoming a Prime Minister!” I heard him say as I rushed away from him.
The only way I could get over what happened last night was by knowing it was a mistake and that it would never happen again. If Isaac was trying to lure me into sleeping with him still, resisting that mistake would become impossible.
I was flushed pink by the time I returned to the table where Trudy was sitting. She was on the phone. I waited for her to finish.
“All good?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Yeah, he just wanted to get a few facts straight,” I replied and fiddled with my notes.
I had a list of questions on the page before me, but they all looked distorted and hazy now. I couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand.
A sudden realization had hit me. After all these years, Isaac Parnell wanted me. I wasn’t just some nerd hiding in the shadows and watching him longingly anymore. I was the woman he wanted in his bed.
“You okay, Margo?” Trudy interrupted my thoughts. I could barely sit still. I couldn’t stop my body from shaking. As much as I tried to push Isaac out of my mind, I couldn’t move on. The truth was that my teenage desires were magically coming true and I couldn’t do anything about them.
Chapter 9
Isaac
I was the first one to arrive at the bar. It was our monthly meet-up, and my best friends were yet to get there. Sawyer and Cliff were late by nearly half an hour, and I wasn’t surprised. I’d known these guys since we were eight. We grew up together. We even all went to Harvard together. Neither of them had shown up anywhere on time. Vince would have been on time, but he wasn’t coming tonight, he was somewhere in Brazil playing football.
I sat with my whiskey at the bar, taking up our usual spot and I kept thinking about Margo. I was debating whether to tell the others. I figured that Sawyer would understand. After all these years of bachelordom, he was a family man now. Not only was he engaged, but he was also a father.
If I told the guys that I was confused about Margo, they would think I was serious about her. The truth was that I didn’t know what I was feeling. I barely knew Margo. We had spent only a little time together. All I knew was that I felt differently about her. No other woman had occupied my mind the way she did.
Sawyer was the first to arrive. He walked straight up to me. I noticed the way women turned in their chairs to look at him. He was a celebrity in Boston. He was a famous cardiologist who was on TV all the time. It amazed me that he didn’t look at one of them. The Sawyer I knew, the one I’d grown up with, wouldn’t have been able to resist the attention.
Ever since he met Faye, it seemed like he was an entirely new person. Now, he was obsessed with her and their little girl, Evie. It was hard for me to admit that he seemed happier than I've seen him in years.
“What’s up, man? Where’s Cliff?” he banged his hand on my back and nearly spilled the whiskey from my glass.
“Where do you think he is? Still in some girl’s bed I assume,” I replied. Sawyer laughed.
“Ah, the good old days,” he commented as he took the bar stool next to mine. I watched him order his drink. When he turned to me, he was smiling.
“You miss it?” I asked him out of the blue.
“Miss what?”
“The good old days,” I replied as Sawyer breathed in deeply.
“If you mean sleeping around, then, no. It feels exhausting to me now when I think about it. I’m on the other side, man. The good side. Faye is the best thing that’s happened to me,” Sawyer replied, more seriously.
I gulped down the whiskey in my glass, and I could sense his eyes on me.
“That was a strange question to ask. Usually, you’re the first one to make fun of me settling down.” Sawyer was grinning, but he also had a curious gleam in his eyes.
“You know I’m happy for you, man. I just like to make jokes,” I told him, and Sawyer thumped my back again.
“Yeah, I know you are. There’s Cliff. Clifford!” Sawyer jumped off the stool and greeted our third friend who’d come striding in our direction.
“The man of the hour. The poor groom. The one who bit the dust!” Cliff’s voice boomed as they exchanged quick hugs. I waved casually at Cliff as he wrapped an arm around my neck and pretended to strangle me.
“What’s with the gloom?” Cliff asked as he sat on my other side. For a guy who was always too busy to hang out with his old friends, he was incredibly perceptive.
“Isaac’s just been asking about my life as a non-bachelor,” Sawyer told him. Cliff laughed.
“Thinking about it yourself?” he asked. I rolled my eyes.
“No woman can hold this one down!” Sawyer joked and my second whiskey arrived.
“What’s happening with that girl, Claudia?” Cliff asked me. I shook my head.
“Clarissa. Nothing. I spoke to her a few nights ago and told her off. She wanted to come over to my place again,” I replied. Cliff and Sawyer exchanged looks. I knew what they were about to say.
“Maybe watch yourself with the students, man,” Sawyer said.
“She’s not my student, not anymore.”
“But she used to be,” Cliff argued.
“That’s bad enough. I mean, it’s your career that could be on the line here,” Sawyer added. I knew he was right. Margo’s words floated up in my head. She was living proof of how one bad decision could ruin your career and your life.
“Yeah, I know. I don’t plan on that happening again,” I said.
“I don’t blame you, man. I mean I’ve seen first-hand how those girls react to you. It’s like you’re the voice of God or something,” Cliff continued.
“They worship you,” Sawyer said.
Their words weren’t helping. Instead, they were making me feel more guilty.
“I get it. I get your point!” I snapped.
Sawyer thumped my back again.
“What I'm saying is that I understand. I’ve been there, done that.”
“You can say that again!” Cliff said and drank his whiskey.
“But maybe hold back a little. Maybe don’t sleep with them the night after they graduate,” Sawyer continued.
I rammed my glass down on the bar.
“I fucking get it, okay?
I’d said that too loudly, and it startled my friends. They exchanged looks again.
“Something’s wrong. What’s going on with you, man?” Cliff interjected. I rubbed a hand over my face. I was very close to tripping up and telling them about Margo. But that would be a mistake. I would become the new laughing stock of the group like Sawyer had been when he was obsessing over Faye.
I didn’t want that to happen, not until I’d figured out what to do about her.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. I’ve taken your advice, thank you,” I replied firmly.
“Anyway, so how’s the wedding prep going?” Cliff diverted the attention to Sawyer again.
He grinned and nodded.
“It’s been keeping Faye busy. You guys ready to fly out soon?” Sawyer asked.
“A week at the Bahamas. I’m looking forward to it, man. I haven’t had a proper vacation in y
ears,” Cliff remarked.
“How’s Evie?” I asked Sawyer, and I saw the way his eyes lit up at the mention of his daughter’s name. I could see how important she was to him.
“She’s great. She’s a good kid, no trouble to us. We’re excited for her to share the special day with us,” Sawyer continued.
I still couldn’t believe it that he was a father. I had no idea what that kind of responsibility would feel like. I hadn’t thought about kids before, so why was I thinking of them now? I blamed Sawyer for this. He was the one putting ideas in my head.
Ideas about being a one-woman-man and settling down and starting a family. It scared me. I was anxious and emptied the second whiskey down my throat. When I was ordering a third, Cliff placed a hand on my arm.
“Whoa! Slow down, man. You look like a guy who’s trying to drown his sorrows,” Cliff said.
“Stop implying things, man. I’m fine. I just need a drink,” I snapped at him again.
The four of us, including Vince, had been best friends forever, but we had never gotten into a fight. We understood each other. We shared with each other, and we very rarely snapped.
I knew that Sawyer and Cliff could both sense that something was going on with me. I, myself, didn’t know what it was.
It was like ever since I’d met Margo, everything seemed wrong in my life. I was tired of my lifestyle, and of the endless women, I slept with who weren’t right for me. I was thinking about what a serious commitment would look like. I was confused and angry, and even more so because Margo was shutting me out.
I had never felt this obsessed with a woman before, but that could be because no other woman had turned me down. Now that I knew Margo was pushing me away, all I wanted was her.
Cliff and Sawyer fell into a conversation about the upcoming wedding again, and their voices seemed to fade in the background. I was imagining Margo, with her luscious red hair tumbling down around her shoulders. I was envisioning her delicious lips and that tight pussy. Her body was one thing because I wanted it so bad. But it wasn’t just that. She’d flipped a switch in me which made me think of her all the time. All I could think about was her voice, her eyes, her laughter, her anger. They were all stuck in my head and I felt like I was going insane.
Chapter 10
Margo
I was in my apartment, with the blank screen of the computer staring back at me. I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t think. In the past four days, I’d interviewed all the professors I needed to. Now it was time I sat down and wrote the article.
Lionel was expecting results within the next few days, and I had nothing to show for it. I hadn’t written a single sentence. I hadn’t even compiled my notes. All I could do was sit in front of the computer and stare.
I tried to think about William, but I couldn’t even picture his face. How was it so easy for me to break off contact with him and never look back? Deep down I knew it was because I had no real feelings for him. I don't know why I was sleeping with him if I didn't genuinely care about him. I've always taken myself too seriously and thought I was having fun.
In those months that William and I snuck around, having sex in his office or my cramped apartment in Pretoria, I hadn’t considered that I was crossing the line. I had distracted him from his prestigious job.
Until that moment I had never doubted myself. I thought I was doing well. I was successful and smart and people respected me. But, I wasn’t amazing. I was foolish and capable of making naive choices. I had made a fool of myself, just like I’d made a fool of myself at that party in college. I had no control over my desires, and it had all started with Isaac.
Isaac was back in my life again, but this time, he had a different role to play. He wasn’t a dream anymore. He was real, and I’d slept with him. That alone was worth blowing my mind.
The realization that he still wanted me was pushing me further off the edge. I was tempted to pick up the phone and call him. What was stopping me from seeing him again? Was it the knowledge that I made poor choices? Deep down, I thought that sleeping with Isaac again would lead to disaster.
Just like William, Isaac was capable of destroying me. The difference between William and Isaac was that I had feelings for the latter. Maybe not now, or I didn’t think I did now, but I had feelings for him at some point, and I was frightened to the core of those feelings resurfacing again.
I had acted unprofessionally twice. If Lionel or anyone from the journalistic industry found out about my second slip-up, I would not have a job anymore. Not even the one I had now. I was hanging on by a thread here.
My phone rang, startling me and I answered without knowing who was calling.
Isaac’s voice was deep and firm, and I felt like I was dreaming. He’d just interrupted my thoughts about him, and it felt surreal to hear his voice.
“Margo, I hope I’m not interrupting something important,” he said, without feeling the need to introduce himself.
“Isaac, you really shouldn’t be calling me. I thought I made myself very clear the other day,” I said.
“Yes, you did. I heard you loud and clear,” he replied.
“Why are you calling me then?” I snapped, standing up from my chair with a jerk.
“Because I’ve been thinking about our interview and I’ve decided that you don’t have my permission to publish it,” he said.
I had my brows furrowed. I was confused and angry at the same time.
“What is that supposed to mean? What is wrong with the interview?”
“Everything. You’re right. That interview wasn’t conducted professionally, and I’m not a fan of the questions that were asked,” he continued.
Isaac wasn’t joking. There was no hint of humor in his voice.
The sense that I got was that he was offended by my snub and now he was taking it out on my job.
“You didn’t seem to have a problem with it the last time we met,” I snapped.
“And I’ve thought about it since then and changed my mind.”
“Isaac, you’re putting me in a very difficult position here. My editor made it very clear that you were supposed to be the star of the show. Your interview was most important,” I raged, pressing the phone tightly to my ear.
Isaac was silent for a few moments.
“Well, my apologies then, for ruining your work, but that’s my decision. I’m not approving of this interview. If you decide to publish it anyway, I’m going to have to sue the paper,” he said.
I could have smashed the phone. I could have punched a wall. I was losing my mind here!
“Isaac!” I snapped, but he’d ended the call before I could say anything more.
I growled with rage and flung my phone away.
I couldn’t believe he was doing this to me. How could he be so arrogant and stubborn because I’d turned him down? The great Isaac Parnell who had never been turned down by another woman before? How dare he!
I couldn’t stand still. I was pacing the apartment. I needed to find a way of getting back at him. I was going to publish this stupid interview if it was the last thing I did!
Chapter 11
Isaac
I wasn’t expecting Margo to turn up at my door, but I was hoping she would. After the last time we spoke, when she was interviewing Trudy, I didn’t hear from her in several days. In that time, I thought I’d be able to forget about her and move on, but very soon I realized that she’d completely taken over my life.
I knew that if I didn’t see her again, or talk to her, I would lose my mind.
The truth was that I didn’t care about the interview. I wasn’t bothered by what she was going to write about me. Even if she had every intention of slaughtering me in her article, it wouldn’t have any effect on me. I’d faced enough criticism in my professional career. It was a part of working under the public eye.
What I couldn’t stand, was the thought that I would never see her again. The only solution I could think of was to anger her and thereby force her to come
and see me.
Surprisingly, she did.
I was sitting on my couch, making notes for a lecture the next day when there was a knock on the door. It was within forty minutes of the call I’d made to her phone.
When I opened the door, I realized that it was pouring outside and Margo was drenched in it. Her shoulders were heaving. I could see she was angry. Her trench coat was soaked, and so was her hair.
“You should come in,” were the first words I said to her. Then I stepped aside so she could enter my house.
Margo strode in.
“Do you need a towel?” I asked as she glared at me. When she didn’t reply, I went to the bathroom and brought back a fresh towel for her to use. She snatched it from me and refused to thank me for it.
I watched as she rubbed her hair with it. Then she removed her trench coat and threw it over my couch. Her t-shirt and jeans were damp, and she wiped them with the towel. Could it be possible that she was even sexier now?
“What is your problem, Isaac?” she hissed.
I crossed my arms over my chest and shrugged.
“It’s very obvious to me, Margo, that you dislike me. You have some preconceived notion of me, and it seems to be rooted in some unfortunate experiences from our college days. Whatever your notions are, I don’t think you are the right candidate to write an article about me, given our personal history.”
I knew I was stinging her with my words, but I was only doing it to rile her up. I wanted a reaction from her. I was glad to see her again, and I wanted to keep seeing her. In my twisted mind, I figured that starting an argument with her would be the best way to keep her in my house for a little longer.
Margo glared at me. Her lips were quivering, as she tried to find the right words to retort with.
“You were right. What we did was unprofessional. We shouldn’t have had sex,” I continued.
She hadn’t said anything yet. She just continued to stare at me with her shoulders rising up and down as she took in sharp breaths. I wondered what more I would have to say to crack her.
